The Boston Celtics (52-22) and the Atlanta Hawks (43-32) both played like hungry playoff teams in their last games and will look to continue that momentum on Friday when they square off in this ESPN matchup. Boston (-1) has struggled mightily though when playing on back-to-back nights, which is the scenario here following a 107-97 victory at San Antonio on Thursday.
This will be the second consecutive nationally televised game for the Celtics, who are just 4-12 against the spread when playing with no rest this season. They have also dropped five of their last six games straight-up in this situation due to their inability to play at a high level on consecutive days as an aging team.
However, Boston’s youngest star came through against the Spurs, as Rajon Rondo totaled a team-high 22 points and game-high 14 assists. Rondo was 11 of 20 from the field and has scored as many points in his last two games (44) than he totaled in his previous seven combined. The Celtics improved to 21-2 when he has at least 13 assists and stayed ahead of Miami for the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They wrap up a four-game road trip in Atlanta and improved to 23-14 away from home after beating San Antonio.
The Hawks have won their last three games despite failing to score 100 points in any of them and will try to beat Boston for the first time in three meetings. They are coming off an 85-82 home win against Orlando on Wednesday behind a game-high 26 points from Josh Smith. Leading scorer Joe Johnson also returned after missing one game due to a thumb injury and added 18 points.
Atlanta is locked into a 4-5 playoff matchup with the Magic and could possibly face the Celtics in the second round if Boston manages to overtake Chicago for the top seed and both teams advance. Rondo missed the first two meetings with the Hawks this season, but his teammates picked up the slack to help the Celts win both games by a combined 35 points.
Boston had lost the previous four meetings with Atlanta both SU and ATS before this season, and the OVER has cashed in three of the past four games between the teams overall. The UNDER has cashed in the last three games for the Hawks overall while the total has gone OVER in two straight for the Celtics after 10 consecutive UNDERs.
Top expert pick on today’s card: It’s no joke. America’s Greatest wins long-term more than anyone else. But for those simply wanting to ride the hot hand, we are at the beginning of another in a never-ending line of winning streaks. We are 4-1 our last five and yes it’s the same JD of the ACC you’ve known for decades going back to the scorephone days. So if you got crushed in hoops elsewhere, start anew and have a splendid summer of underdog and small favorites winning in MLB.
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